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What do you want this founder to teach you about closing sales?

Posted on Jul 28, 2012

Have you ever really wanted to close a deal?

I’m not talking about getting a customer to spend $5 on your e-commerce landing page.

I’m talking about closing deals. Maybe it’s a small deal like convincing a new client to hire you to design their website. Or maybe it’s a large deal like negotiating with a CEO for a huge sale that will move your revenue needle.

Small or large, being able to close one-on-one deals can change the life of your startup.

To help you close those deals, we’re going to interview a founder whose business is built on strong sales skills. But to make it as useful as possible for you, we want you to tell us what you want to learn!

So leave a comment telling us the following:

If you sell one-on-one to customers, how do you do it? Do you sell on the phone, over email, or otherwise?

What do you sell?

What software are you using now to help you increase your sales?

What specific problems do you have when you’re trying to close a sale?

Include a link to your site if you want Andrew to show it to the sales expert during the interview and get specific feedback.

Now’s your chance: What would you want to know from a founder with a proven track record for closing one-on-one sales?

Guest

Looking forward to this one. I do not have answers to those questions as I am not currently trying to close sales.

But I definitely wanted to know how I can talk to big companies to partner up or to try our software. How would I do that? In my opinion, that is a “sale”. If not, I can still use the skills from this up coming interview.

Looking forward to this one Andrew.

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

What part of the process are you having issues with?

Is it finding the right person to talk to?

Starting the sale?

Closing it?

Something else?

Anonymous

Very timely interview for me, thank you for taking the time to do this.

My burning question with sales is how to create a scalable sales process. By that, I mean that it seems as though every person that gets added to my sales team exponentially increases the issues with the process. When it was just me it was easy to track metrics, get direct customer feedback, and ensure that I was directly following a tested process.

How: I try many different methods, but the best direction for me right now (beyond referrals of course) is cold calling to schedule an interview followed by an in person meeting.

What: I use Highrise for contact management and to track deal flows. I also purchase lists from list brokers. Everything else is done through templates in MS Office programs.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=508713432 Gregory Ranger

Let’s say you are selling a software (as a service) for Enterprise clients. What is the best outbound strategy? Meaning: cold email blast as many people in the sector you are targeting, inviting them to a webinar? Or, researching 1 company at a time to craft a clever email that speaks directly to them? Or just cold calling, no emails, etc. Thank you!!

http://hotshotentrepreneur.com/ Nino

this subject is good…

I just hate trying to cold contact(call/e-mail) companies to sell my services.

In the small biz world, where I have tried selling, it’s a nightmare… not because you can’t get to the right person, but because it all lasts so long, even if they are interested, they still are staying on the fence.

It might be my country’s “habits” though…

Anyway, IMO, b2b is the hardest way of selling, even if you sell a magical product.

I would love a reply with your opinion Andrew.

Moran

how he even gets to a point of meeting with the potential customers and the decision maker in particular? how he does cold calls to get new customers?
what’s the frame he’s coming from when going to the meeting? (help the customer etc?)

basically everything from how to even get those potential customers to actually meeting with them and closing them would be great! looking forward to it!

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

Thanks!

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

Good question. Thanks, Gregory!

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

This question fits in perfectly with the session we’re working on.

http://www.HireYourVirtualAssistant.com Owen McGab Enaohwo

@AndrewWarner:disqus who exactly is the founder that will be doing the course on Sales Closing? Please advice.

http://www.bidsketch.com Ruben

I’d like to experiment with some outbound stuff at some point so I’d also like to hear about this. And ideally, which approaches should you use for which product price points.

Earechiga89

I dont’ have a specific problem in sales but it is something that has become who i am and what i like to do. In the last few interviews I have paid specific attention to what your interviewee says to a potential prospect to get them to open up. Most prospects close themselves before one can get “the pitch in” or “elevator pitch” out, by saying no thank you, or if it is an email campaign they “Unsubscribe”! So the Million dollar question is; what trends are taking place, what are buyers responding or responsive to, whats is working today with buyers or prospect that make them feel like a neighbor. what are the new hot words? Great interviews!

http://HybridLocate.com/ MattyMo

I just want to listen , learn , and grow. Bring it !!

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

Nicholas Holland.

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

I was thinking that b2b is easier than b2c because businesses have bigger budgets, the buyer is often not spending her own money, buying decisions are more rational, etc.

http://www.HireYourVirtualAssistant.com Owen McGab Enaohwo

He was the one who thought this class “Master Class: Closing Sales” right? Is he teaching a different angle to this class?

Greg Miliatis

How to shorten the sales cycle? I have a SAAS product that I’m marketing to small/mid-size companies (~100-200 employees), specifically, law firms, and the sales process is excruciatingly slow–as in several months. I already have established relationships with decision makers (IT directors, executive directors), but without senior partners asking for it, these 2nd-tier decision makers have little incentive to to buy.

How to reach top-level decision makers and get them clamoring for my offering?

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

Great question. This is a solid fit for this program.

http://mixergy.com Andrew Warner

Yup. He’s doing something a bit different.

Mo

How do you get the sponsor your speaking to to open up after you have pitched them. quite often they need time after the first call to think. Often they get really excited on the first call. Then when you call them back they ignore you or sit on the fence.